新紙幣の顔、五千円札は津田梅子です。The face
on Japan's new 5000 yen bill is Tsuda Umeko.
明治時代に初めての女子留学生としてアメリカに渡った5人の中で、梅子は最年少でした。Of the five girls who went to the U. S. as the first female students abroad at the end of 19th century, Umeko was the youngest. わずか6歳でアメリカで暮らすのは大変だったでしょうが、It must have been hard to live there as young as six years old, but she adapted so well to the country in eleven years as to forget Japanese altogether. 11年間を過ごし、日本語を忘れるほど馴染めたのは幼くて柔軟な年頃だったからこそだとも思います。It shows she had an advantage of being young and flexible. 父親は初めは姉を行かせようと考えたのですが、Her father tried to send her older sister at first, but her refusal gave her the opportunity. 姉が断ったため梅子にチャンスが巡ってきました。当時の考え方では、海外に長く滞在して婚期を逃す危険の方が問題だったようです。In those days, it was much bigger a problem of staying abroad for years to miss appropriate age to get married than gaining experience in a foreign country.
11年後に日本に戻った梅子には、When she came back to Japan in eleven years, there was no particular job prepared for her, which disappointed her. 特に仕事が用意されてはいなかったので失望しましたが、同時に自分を留学させてくれた日本への恩義も感じていました。But at the same time, she felt obliged to her country for giving her the chance to study abroad. 一時伊藤博文の家の家庭教師ともなり、She once became a home tutor for the former prime minister Ito Hirobumi's family, later working at a high school for aristocrats girls. その後は華族女学校の教師として働きました。
24歳で再びアメリカ留学した時には、When she went to the states to study again at the age of 24, 大学で生物学を研究し、she researched biology at a university, becoming the first Japanese woman whose thesis appeared in an academic magazine. 論文が学術雑誌に掲載された初めての日本女性となりました。生物学者としてそのまま暮らすこともできたのに日本に戻ったのは、She could have stayed there as a biologist, 日本女性の地位の低さや教育機関の不足に危機感を感じていたからでしょう。but she came back to Japan. It may be because she felt a shock to see the low status of women and the lack of educational facilities for them. 自分たちだけが学ぶのではなく、多くの女性に機会を提供し、後に続く世代を育てようとしたのですね。Not satisfied with limiting good education to herself, she tried to bring up next generation of women like her by giving them opportunities to study further.
彼女が始めた女子英学塾は、The private school she started is still maintained as Tsudajuku university after the war ended in 1945. 戦後津田塾大学となり今に続いています。現在当たり前に男女が学べる国になったのは、梅子のような先駆者のお陰です。Thanks to pioneers including Umeko, women can study equally with men in our country today. 大切に学び続けたいです。Let's show our appreciation for this opportunity by keep studying.